Intro for August 13, 2012

Withdrawal. There’s, like, nothing to watch on TV now. And certainly not for the 10 hours a day I was averaging during the Games, one and a half eyes on the television, half an eye on my laptop.

Still, though the Olympics may be over, we will always have Good Gossip. And it’s been such a great summer for Good Gossip thanks to Tom Cruise, Kristen Stewart, and now Jennifer Aniston. Jennifer Aniston just couldn’t help herself. And so we resume...

But not before sh-tting on NBC one last time. When Duana is breaking story for a script, she talks often about what the viewer wants vs what the viewer needs. Often it’s not the same thing. What is it that NBC is doing here? Is NBC giving the viewers what they want or what they need? But why would the American public want or need to skip Ray Davies’s beautifully poignant performance of Waterloo Sunset? How can you honour London when you cut out the song that specifically honours London!?!?! And then Muse, even though they played the OFFICIAL SONG OF LONDON 2012??? And Kate Bush and the volunteers too.

Well, because it’s a business. Isn’t it a business everywhere? We don’t have this problem in Canada. But I’m not actually sure it’s a problem in the United States as NBC’s Olympic viewership was up for London over Beijing. Even with all that tape delay and all that Twitter hate, NBC made money. So much money. And interestingly enough, when polled, 76% of American viewers thought NBC’s coverage was “good to excellent”. (Source) They’re doing it for the 76% then. Who are the 76%?

Why all the hand-wringing from the Twi-Hard down the hall today? Robert Pattinson will emerge for the first time since the cheating scandal broke. As I said earlier, Good Gossip will save us.